"David Farland - Runelords 3 - Wizardborn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Farland David)

Wizardborn




BOOK 9

DAY 2 IN THE MONTH OF LEAVES




Chapter 1

THE CALM BETWEEN THE STORMS

King Croenert of Toom bought dung for his fields to make the grass grow
deeper.
But found one day that warlords in gray would sell their sons far
cheaper.
--Nursery rhyme alluding to King Croenert, who hired cheap mercenaries
from Internook to attack Lonnock




In South Crowthen, King Anders had been entertaining guests all night.
Among them were a dozen fierce old warlords from Internook with their
sealskin capes and horned helms. They'd sailed on ships painted like gray
serpents, and the smell of sea salt clung to their beards. Their silver-
gold hair was braided; the wind had burned their faces raw.

Any lord but Anders would have sought to buy their loyalty. The
warlords of Internook were notoriously cheap. But Anders offered no money.
He merely filled them with strong drink and tales of the treachery of
Gaborn Val Orden. By midnight they were pounding the wooden tables with
their silver mugs and shouting for the boy's head. To celebrate their
decision, they killed a hog and dyed their braids in blood, then painted
their faces with streaks of green, yellow, and blue. They'd take no pay for
their services other than the spoils of war.



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 Wizardborn

Thus Anders bought half a million berserkers for less than a steel
eagle's worth of strong ale and a butchered sow.

Beside them the Lady Vars, counselor to the queen of Ashoven, watched